Chapter 2 Background to Intercultural Communication

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lntercultural Effectiveness Is a Goal of lntercultural Communication

The Origins of

lntercultural

Communication

Dealing with International Differences

Some West Africans tend to exhibit an extremely friendly and warm interpersonal communication style. Some Asians are described as conscious of propriety, cere­mony, and rules to a point of extreme display of respect and honor. Some dominant U.S. culture members appear informal, uninhibited, and preferring to come to the main point quickly in a linear manner. Some Britons seem to have a reserved sub­tlety, preferring understatement and control in interpersonal interaction. These ex­amples remind us that it is crucial to understand the intercultural style of the people with whom we communicate. Of course, not everyone from a culture acts and thinks the same way, but the central tendencies you may come to discover about cultures can become a useful beginning for awareness and interaction.

Another axiom of intercultural communication involves communication effec­tiveness. The goal of this concept is positive intercultural outcomes. That success can take many forms: improved relationships, effective management, friendship, training (Brislin 1989), technology dissemination, and conflict reduction.

Overall, researchers are concerned about three intercultural communication outcomes: task, relationship, and personal adjustment. The task outcome is the result of intercultural communication on performance. Task means accomplish­ing a work-related purpose.

In the relationship outcome, we are concerned with what others think of us. Do they like us? Dislike us? Can we continue to work together? Understanding and friendship are two important subsets of relationship. Increased understand­ing makes mutual influence and accurate understanding possible (Ruhly 1976). One of the goals, of studying intercultural communication is to increase under­standing and to decrease tensions.

A third possible outcome of intercultural communication is personal adjust­ment. A great deal has been learned in the last few years about the process of going through transitions and adapting to the cultural stresses that accompany communication in a culture different from our own. Learning to adjust and to ac-culturate are major outcomes of adaptation leading to effectiveness.

While you may have some concrete ideas about speech or communication theory, it is possible you may have limited exposure to intercultural communication, a rel­atively new area of communication studies. The origins of this area of study are many and are complex, so the brief history below is selected from a dominant U.S. cultural perspective. At least the trends allow us to narrowly explore forces and conditions leading to the serious investigation of intercultural communication.

Some observers claim that, prior to the Second World War, many people in the United States seemed to lack a world perspective. At one time in U.S. history, the Monroe Doctrine prompted leadership to embrace people in the world be­cause it was "manifest destiny" to extend the doctrines of "democracy." We also learned from the experiences of travelers and missionaries. However, the events surrounding the Second World War seemed to jolt us, even more than the First World War, into a national consciousness that there was another world out there. U.S. isolationist views continued to erode under a move toward global aware­ness and interaction.

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